The topic of video games' effect on violence levels has been debated for quite some time. I believe that video games do not have an effect on violence levels.

Arguments:

1. Video games have been shown to have a calming effect.Recent studies have shown that video games have no effect or even the opposite effect on gamers. These studies show that gamers who were shown violent photos or photos with a negative connotation reacted the same as non-gamers. This study was published in an issue of Applied Cognitive Psychology. [1] [2]

2. Video gamers know about the difference between reality and fantasy. Another popular argument against video games is that gamers can't tell the difference between the video game world and the real world. This is not the case however, as many cases of gamers confusing them are not actually confusions of the virtual/real world, but just remembering repetitions. [3]

Videogame: "A game played by electronically manipulating images produced by a computer program on a monitor or other display." [2]

Influence: "The capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behaviour of someone or something, or the effect itself"[3]

Cause: "A person or thing that gives rise to an action, phenomenon, or condition"

Explanations

Because of the vagueness of this debate, we need to further understand how to distinguish "causing violence" from "influencing violence". This debate is if videogames cause violence, not if they influence violence. So influencing is when you have and effect on someone, whereas causing is when you give rise to an action. So let us give examples. If you were to influence, or convince someone to eat a strip of bacon, it would be influence. However if someone punches someone else because they were fighting for the strip of bacon, the bacon caused the punch. The reason I explainened this is because it will have a great effect on this debate, and both our further contentions.

Contentions

Everything can cause violence

How video games cause violence

Video games can be used to hurt people

So I have 3 main contentions for this round, to save other contentions for the later rounds.

To begin, I would like to explain how the debate topic is " Video Games do not Cause Violence". So if 1 person creates violence due to a video game, it still means that video games cause violence. Anyway, to get back to the point of this contention, everything can cause violence. A hand can cause violence, a book can cause violence, anything. Video games are not exceptions. Once I punched my cousin because I was mad at my video game. The video game was the cause of me punching my cousin, therefore the videogame caused violence. So videogames do cause violence.

Now to get into further understanding, I will explain other ways on how video games cause violence. Well as we all know, humans learn the most when they are children. 32% of gamers are children, which is quite a large number. [5] Children learn alot from what is around them, and media is included in such. Anything they see can be the cause of their aggresion. So if they are in the perspective of some guy who kills thousands of people, they will be feeling the same way, and cause violence. These video games can be the cause of violence, so videogames cause violence, and also influence violence.

Now for my last argument, let us imagine such a scenario. With 7 billion people on earth, with the number rising, the odd of such a scenario occuring is quite possible. [6] So basically, if let's say a person get's mad at someone for winning a video game, and starts being aggresive, they may want to hurt someone. So if someone was to pick up the video game, and slap it into someone's face, it would be violence. Violence caused by the videogame. So the videogames caused violence.

Conclusion

In conclusion, in some scenarios, videogames cause violence. So I pretty much already proved my point.

OK, I guess a better title for this debate would be "Do video games influence violence" but semantics isn't that important to me.

Counter:

Your contention that people getting mad at video games and then doing acts of violence means that video games cause violence is false. People's reactions to video games can cause violence, this is a definite fact. This does not mean that video games cause violence. Say, for example, I am using a spoon to scoop ice cream and then the spoon bends slightly, and then I punch my brother in the face. Should I have reacted so badly? No, I shouldn't have reacted like that. People aren't going to blame the weakness of spoons for me punching someone in the face, they are going to blame me and the incredibly bad temper that I have. When people in completely sound mind get mad at a video game, they don't become violent. If video games did cause violence, then wouldn't everyone who got mad at a video game become violent? It is more correct to have the cause of the violence on the person committing it then the video game they were playing.

I will do a quick argument this round because I am running out of time. This is basically a repeat/ rebuttal. So you said something like if you break your spoon and punch someone, it is your fault the the spoon. But think about it like a source, an item, and an outcome. The spoon powered your anger. Then your anger created a punch. So though the spoon didn't directly cause the punch, it was still one of the causes. The same goes for the video game. Since such a scenario is possible, the videogame created violence, thereby proving my point.